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Mission V60 Bookshelf speakersMission V60 are made in England with irreproachable quality. They are available in three finishes with natural veneer. They have a bass-reflex design with the back port. Bi-wiring is provided. The front wall is double, its total thickness is 38 mm! The woofer's diffuser with the size of 130 mm made of polymer (whereas others use either carbon fiber, or Kevlar or aluminum). The tweeter is also different. Its soft (we would rather say very soft) dome is made of unusually thin microfiber material and impregnated with special lacquer. The frequency with which it is activated is chosen quite low - 2,4 kHz. The tweeter is installed under the woofer, not vice versa. In this solution we can again see the desire of Mission to distinguish from the others, but it has quite a scientific background. Listening. While we were testing these loudspeakers, the amplifier had a tough time. We knew that Mission V60 has a low sensitivity, but it became clear how small it was when volume control was twisted to a position far beyond the average. But even this was not enough! While attempting to increase input power, the output stages of our hard-hitting Marantz amplifier nevertheless became to climb down - first signs of distortion appeared in bass, the middle lost naturalness, the top was enriched with sharp components. Hence are the first conclusions. V60 literally devour power and there is no sense to use them with moderate amplifier. Moreover, after testing Mission speakers with the Canadian amplifier Bryston, we began to suspect that not every device with even high current feedback will cope with them. What advantages should V60 have in order to make a music lover to lash out on very good amplifiers? Well, there several such qualities in small-caliber, but killing British "main gun". We managed to get from Mission V60 quite a realistic and not very deep sound stage, localization in which is perfect in both foreground and background. We also liked that with its huge scales the stage didn't seem to be empty - the whole space were filled with air and the finest reverberation responses, which only increased emotional impact. Another advantage of Mission V60 is in the lower register: bass is plastic and movable. Even the feeling of some oppression in dynamics (and low-sensitivity loudspeakers, as a rule, always sound so - less freely and openly) did not prevent such materialization. All is clear and strictly. The upper range was most difficult to assess. On one side of scale there is the lack of dynamics of discants, on the other - supernatural informativeness. Hearing first completely switches to the details, but then, due to information overload, the defense as if activates in brain. You stop to analyze sound, just sit and listen with acute fascination. ![]() |